Don't want to breed!

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I adopted Quinn from a breeder I had heard a lot of good things about (from many people!), and after meeting her digs they were all super well socialized. In retrospect I realize now he was definitely a BYB. Therefore I did not have to sign a 'no-breeding contract'.

Anyways we know another toy breed dog which she gets along amazing with. He has an incredible personality and is a real sweetheart, the two play together wonderfully. The other owner mentioned breeding them and I just mentioned how cute that would be and thought it wasn't very serious.

Now time is passing by and the whole thing has become a more serious matter. The other owner has done tons of research, already has a waiting list of people who want puppies (including herself) and is very serious about the whole thing. She even offered to help pay for vet bills. She does want to wait for Quinn to go through a few heats before we breed. Meaning I do have plenty of time to stall but I don't want her to be waiting around for us.

I don't know how to let her down and just tell her I don't want to breed. I don't want Quinn to loose a playmate and don't want rough feelings between us!

Well tell her exactly what you said. You don't want to breed your dog. Tell her youve already had the pet fixed. Tell her there are millions of shelter dogs put down every year and why bring in more puppies into the world? Do either of you have any experience breeding? What happens if Quinn needs a c-section? Those are EXTREMELY expensive. Will she be willing to shell out a couple thousand dollars?

Remember, in her eagerness to breed, it's your dog that she's willing to put at risk. If things went pear-shaped, there's no guarantee that Quinn would survive, and then it wouldn't really matter whether she was willing to pay the bills or not.

I agree with what another poster suggested; you should suddenly discover that the contract requires you to have Quinn fixed.

Just say although puppies are cute, you never intended to breed Quinn in the first place. You already have a spay appointment (or she's already spayed/contract required whichever you prefer). Feel free to educate her on responsible breeding- Quinn didn't come from a good breeder therefore her genetic health is unknown and it's not responsible to risk passing down genetic diseases to the puppies.

Does this other lady know that Poms usually have very small litters? And of course, like Addy said, she's putting your dog at risk. I mean, if you were to breed and something happened to your girl or one of the puppies, where would this lady be?

It sounds like she's trying to breed responsibly, but just explain to her that Quin came from a BYB and you don't want her to go through what her parents did, and explain to her that there are risks in breeding.

Check out learntobreed.com - and tell her to check it out. Tell her that you definitely do not meet most of the basic criteria of what a breeder needs to consider and that it would be a better idea to spay Quinn!

Many people ask me about my dogs - who are shiba inu. I have a (spayed) female and (neutered) male. People constantly ask me if we are going to breed them. I then tell them about petfinder's breed search and how there are too many shibas on there already who need a home.